Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during an availability while visiting the new Core Science Facility site at Memorial University in St. John's on Friday, February 22, 2019. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly)

Trudeau’s most infamous broken pledge in that document was three years of “modest” deficits followed by a $1 billion surplus in year four.

Now, as it turns out, Trudeau’s promises to Canadians in the chapter titled “Fair and Open Government” are equally good for a laugh.

Trudeau’s first promise in that chapter under the heading, “Open and Transparent Government” was: “It is time to shine more light on government and ensure that it remains focused on the people it is meant to serve. Government and its information should be open by default… We will restore trust in our democracy, and that begins with trusting Canadians.”

How does that square with the ever-changing explanations of Trudeau and his minions about why Jody Wilson-Raybould was dumped as Canada’s attorney general? This after she refused to respond to pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office to agree to a sweetheart deal for the giant Quebec engineering and construction company SNC-Lavalin on criminal charges of bribing Libyan officials of Muammar Gaddafi to obtain government contracts.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former attorney general Jody Wilson-Raybould take part in the grand entrance as the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation commission is released on Dec. 15, 2015. (The Canadian Press)

Under the heading “Giving Canadians a Voice in Ottawa,” Trudeau said: “For Parliament to work best, its members must be free to do what they have been elected to do: represent their communities and hold the government to account. Government must always stay focused on serving Canadians and solving their problems.”

If Trudeau wants to give a voice to Canadians in Ottawa, he can start by giving a voice to Wilson-Raybould, by waiving what he claims are solicitor-client privilege and cabinet confidentiality (both disputed by many legal experts), so that she can give her side of the story in the face of public criticism of her performance as attorney general by Trudeau and his officials, and anonymous smears by other Liberals.

Under the heading “Prorogation and Omnibus Bills, Trudeau promised, “We will not resort to legislative tricks to avoid scrutiny”, such as using “omnibus bills to prevent Parliament from properly reviewing and debating” legislation.

How does that square with Trudeau passing the legislation to create the Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs), which SNC Lavalin executives were fiercely and relentlessly lobbying the PMO and Liberal cabinet ministers for, through a one-page, add-on to a 600-page omnibus budget implementation bill, about which even some Liberal MPs on the Commons finance committee weren’t aware?

Finally, Trudeau promised to “strengthen Parliamentary committees so that they can better scrutinize legislation” and to “limit the circumstances in which Liberal Members of Parliament will be required to vote with Cabinet.”

How does that square with the performance of Liberal MPs who hold a majority of seats on the Commons justice committee and, by a 5-4 vote, rejected efforts by the opposition parties to have the key players in the SNC-Lavalin scandal testify, including Wilson-Raybould, while the Liberal chairman of the committee ridiculously suggested she was dumped as attorney general because she couldn’t speak French?

While he eventually apologized and the committee has now agreed to hear from Wilson-Raybould, it remains unclear if she will be able to testify in any meaningful way because Trudeau, while he says he’s studying the issue, is still refusing to waive solicitor-client privilege and cabinet confidentiality.

All of which demonstrates, yet again, that Trudeau’s promises aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on.

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